Michael Jackson spent £4 million on statues while heavily in debt

Michael Jackson spent nearly £4 million on statues of Peter Pan and children playing games together despite being heavily in debt, court papers have shown.

• He bought the artworks, including a life-size bronze statue of children playing on a slide, for his Neverland Ranch which he sold in November, it has been reported.
• The singer, who was cleared of child abuse in 2005, is said to have funded the purchases from £16 million he received for “personal expenses” after selling his half of the ATV Music Publishing company to Sony in 2006.
• The claims are made by former lawyer Raymone Bain, who is suing the Thriller star for £33 million she claims she is owed for deals brokered for him between 2003 and 2006, the Sun newspaper has reported.
• Most of the statues are now being auctioned in a bid to raise money for Jackson, who is rumoured to be £100 million in debt.
• Court documents filed by Miss Bain claim: “The magnitude of his spending is legendary as he has earned and dissipated several fortunes.
• “Mr Jackson’s pattern has been to spend to the brink of insolvency and then borrow against his assets to further feed his spending. His unbridled spending would give any other individual a moment of pause.”
• And it’s claimed: “Mr Jackson exhibited and continues to exhibit impulsive and irresponsible spending habits without regard to the financial limits of his earnings.”
• The papers were filed last week at the District Court for the US District of Columbia.
• Jackson is scheduled to perform a series of concerts at London’s O2 this year, but four have already been postponed amid rumours that he is suffering from skin cancer.